http://realfooty.com.au/news/news/miller-loses-key-role-in-tiger-recruiting/2007/06/14/1181414462796.html#Miller loses key role in recruiting
Caroline Wilson | June 15, 2007
GREG Miller has been removed from overseeing Richmond's recruiting, with the club embarking on a nationwide search for a talent and list manager as part of a radical restructure of the Tigers' football department.
Although Miller will retain his role as director of football, he appears to have become the first casualty of the restructure, following the club's indifferent recruiting performance over the past five years.
Francis Jackson is expected to retain his role as the club's full-time recruitment manager, with the Tigers also looking to invest in not only an overall list manager to oversee recruiting, but at least two part-time talent-spotters working outside Victoria.
Miller is understood to have met club directors, including president Gary March, over the past week with a final series of recommendations regarding the planned changes to go before the Richmond board next week.
With the Tigers languishing at the bottom of the AFL ladder 11 rounds into the season, without a win, March told The Age after the Geelong thrashing at the start of last month that his board and chief executive had already embarked upon further rebuilding and a restructure of the club's under-resourced football department.
This followed coach Terry Wallace's comments on the eve of the season, that detailed and revealed the club's challenge regarding massive holes in his team's list.
March, when contacted by The Age last night, refused to comment on Miller's relatively reduced new role, saying no final decisions had been made.
Appointed to the board as part of the Clinton Casey ticket at the end of 2004, Miller does not face re-election until the end of 2008. It is not known whether he will retain his position until then.
Increasingly forced to defend Richmond's recruiting performance, since he joined the club almost five years ago, Miller is expected to continue to work with chief executive Steven Wright and the new list manager on player contracts.
He will also continue to work closely with coach Wallace and his assistants in a mentoring role.
Richmond's increasingly positive financial performance — although the Tigers are at present $1 million down on gate receipts from 2006, they forecast a profit of at least $500,000 — has allowed the board to continue to place unprecedented emphasis on recruiting and other football areas.
The club will also bolster its medical and conditioning team and could employ a full-time sports psychologist. It is also expected to plough more money into player development, an area former Lion Craig McCrae will continue to oversee.
However, the board's emphasis remains heavily focused on recruiting and increasing the club's resources around Australia, along with plugging holes in the Richmond list.
March and his team have already begun identifying candidates and the club is expected to make an appointment before the end of the season, with the Tigers increasingly likely to take the No. 1 pick in the national draft. Miller had already been focusing upon out-of-contract players, including Brisbane's Jamie Charman.
March's board has also appointed a significant new fund-raising arm and will next week set about prioritising new football department roles, with Wallace's right-hand man Paul Armstrong expected to remain at the club.
However, Armstrong is unlikely to take the role of overall list manager.
